Archive for October, 2013

Another interesting eatery has sprung up on a corner of the Flagey square. This is a really good area for choice of food. The Walk in Thai is a great, cheap thai eat-in/takeaway place, there’s Mama Roma’s, Les Super Filles du Tram (burger joint) and Quartier Libre (tapas), as well as Slurps and Dolma for the vegetarians.
The latest addition that we have tested is Unamido. Opened by a Belgian with a penchant for Japanese cuisine, this focuses on Ramen noodles – in their traditional broth. There is a veggie option, but the rest are served with pork neck and half a (perfectly) soft boiled egg. One can choose the addition to the broth – miso paste, soy sauce, spicy miso, pork fat etc. There is also a ‘Ramen of the week’. This was autumnm chestnut yesterday. I stuck to traditional – and went with miso. My friend took soy sauce.

Soy Ramen

Both were excellent. The noodles were al dente and freshly prepared. The pork neck is cold and added to the broth like that. There’s a lot of fat in it, but tasty. The egg, as mentioned, was perfectly cooked. Diners get chopsticks and a spoon in order to enjoy the broth and the contents. In addition to the basics, there were mangetout, spring onions and a few leaves of spinach. The broth was not overly salty (though the soy sauce one was clearly more salty than the miso), and well balanced in flavour. The portions were generous without being impossible to finish.

Miso Ramen

They serve a selection of Japanese beer, as well as hot or cold sake, but we didn’t sample those yesterday. The service was speedy and courteous and completely bilingual (in fact, the waitress and chef were discussing in English). The basic noodles are 13 euros per bowl. There was a lunch menu advertised with 3 gyozas and a bowl of ramen for 12 euros. Shame I can’t get to Flagey for lunch.
The chairs were not particularly comfy – one is not meant to sit and chat all evening. This is a quick eat joint – they do not seem to do takeaway. There was only one dessert option. But with Capoue ice cream next door, do you really need more?

In short – a good stop for Japanese noodles with no fuss. I only didn’t give As because I think it could be cheaper for a quick meal, or more comfy if you are meant to hang out longer. But it goes on my list of reliable places for good food near Flagey. It’s quite a long list..